1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to methods for press molding lens arrays.
2. Description of Related Art
Press molding is widely used for making lens arrays. A typical press molding method employs a substrate and a mold core. The mold core has a molding surface array formed thereon, and the molding surface may be concave and convex. After a molding material is applied on the substrate, the mold core is pressed on the molding material, thereby forming a configuration array of lenses each having a surface opposite to the molding surface.
High precision is required in making the lens array, so the substrate is usually required to be precisely aligned with the mold core, where the center of the substrate is aligned with the center of the molding surface array. Currently, the molding surface array is usually made by an ultra-precision machine. As the ultra-precision machining usually only has a precision to about 100 microns, the center of the molding surface array is not identical to the center of the mold core, thus resulting in difficulty of precisely aligning the center of the substrate with the center of the molding surface array.
What is needed, therefore, is a method for press molding a lens array that can overcome the above shortcomings.